Did managers receive clear instructions to prevent care staff from being transferred from hot to cold zones?
According to Minister McCann, YES!
As we explained in a previous article, Minister McCann is mistaken when she claims that employees who work in hot zones cannot be transferred to cold zones. It happens regularly.
The real question is whether or not, as she claims, managers have been given clear instructions to stop it from happening.
VeriFIQation done!
We have sifted through the recommendations issued by the Health Ministry and the Institut national de santé publique and it appears that no measures were implemented to prohibit transfers between hot and cold zones.
Among recommendations for lifting isolation measures for health workers (https://www.inspq.qc.ca/publications/2904-levee-isolement-travailleurs-covid19), article 7 (Transferring a health worker who is helping out temporarily or with a regional contract covered by the ministerial order) seems to address this, but when you read it carefully, you realize that it doesn’t really say anything about this issue.
On the contrary, the various ministerial instructions include enough leverage to allow managers to transfer staff as they please.